


Sweet Tooth Caffe

by Neyiea



Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: F/M, RotG Kink Meme, coffee shop AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-19
Updated: 2012-12-21
Packaged: 2017-11-21 14:59:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/599097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Neyiea/pseuds/Neyiea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tooth is the owner of a specialty coffee shop, Aster is the artist who comes in everyday, and Jack is the employee who wishes they would both just admit their feelings already, good lord.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Couldn't resist this prompt, hope you enjoy.

Toothiana smiled excitedly to herself as she began the first order of the day, which was generally the first order of everyday. She broke the crema of the espresso, tapped her container of steamed milk against the countertop to get rid of any bubbles, and began to pour slowly, letting the milk sink to the bottom. She increased the pour, making a small white dot in the centre of the cup, pushed forward a little and stopped, then continued the process twice more before she slowed, lifted and closed.

There, a perfect tulip. There were more complicated designs she could draw with the milk, but this customer always got a tulip from her.

She set the cup on a plate with a biscotti and took a deep breath to calm herself before walking out from behind the drink counter and into the dining area where her favourite regular sat in his usual window seat, idly doodling in his sketchbook.

"Here we are, one small latte." She set it down in front of him, heart fluttering as quickly as a humming bird's wings when he smiled up at her.

"Thanks Tooth, speedy delivery as always."

"Oh, it's no problem, anything for my favourite customer." Was that coming on too strong? No, no, it was fine. "If you need anything else, just give me a shout."

"Will do." Aster went back to his sketching and Tooth turned and walked away, valiantly trying to ignore how hot her cheeks felt.

When she'd first opened her specialty coffee and dessert shop, almost three months ago now, she'd been planning to eventually hire a sever specifically to work the opening shift with her so that she could sit in her office, undisturbed, and go over budgets and order forms. That plan had quickly been pushed aside when Aster started showing up, right when the store opened at noon, always ordering the same thing and sitting in the same spot while admiring the view from the hillside shop and drawing endlessly.

Aster, with his completely obvious fondness for flowers and his lovely voice and his gorgeous eyes and his killer smile which somehow always made Tooth swoon even though his two front teeth were just a bit too big.

She walked past the drink counter and into the back, wondering how weird it would be if she holed up in her office to watch him over the security camera feeds.

"Hey, boss lady."

Tooth barely held in her shriek as she whirled around, spying her only male employee leaning against the entrance to the dishwashing area.

"Jack! What have I told you about sneaking up on me? And shouldn't you be working on the ice cream production?"

"I'm already done," Jack pushed away from the wall smoothly, "it's exam week, none of the college kids have time to sit down for ice cream, they all just want their triple shots of espresso to go so they can stay up studying."

Tooth sighed and rubbed at her temples. Jack was an excellent worker when he had lots to do, but once he started getting bored...

"You know, I watched a movie the other day and have gleaned some friendly advice from it for you."

Tooth inwardly despaired as Jack took a deep breath.

"Sha-la-la-la-la-la don't be scared, you got the mood prepared go on and kiss the boy."

"Jack."

"Sha-la-la-la-la-la don't stop now, don't try and hide it how you wanna kiss the boy."

"Jack, make yourself useful and stock up the drink counter and start the weekly cleaning."

"Sure thing boss lady." He strolled out front without a care in the world.

"Oh, to be that young again." Tooth murmured to herself before heading to her office, it was pay week and she had some cheques to write...

And a security feed to watch.


	2. Chapter 2

Aster sipped at his latte absentmindedly, the majority of his focus shifted on capturing a shy half-smile in graphite. It would be so much easier to depict with his paints, maybe watercolours, but he couldn't go around making messes outside of his own studio. Soft lines, that was what this particular piece called for, so he turned his attention away for just a moment to change his pencils when he felt it.

He'd always had a good sixth sense, nine times out of ten if he thought he was being stared at, he was being stared at, and if the way the hair on the back of his neck was standing up was any indication he was on the receiving end of a pretty intense gaze.

"Don't turn around, don't turn around, he won't start talking if you don't turn around." He muttered to himself as he picked out a new pencil.

Jack Frost was the nephew of a toymaker that Aster occasionally collaborated with, so he'd met him once or twice in passing during the past couple of years before the caffe opened up. He was currently taking a year off to save up money for school and was, to be completely honest, a little annoying sometimes. When he was working he focussed on his job, at least until he finished way ahead of schedule and got bored, then he started looking for something, or someone, to amuse himself with.

And, since Aster came in everyday, he was a pretty easy target.

"Don't turn around, don't turn around, he won't start-"

"Hey, kangaroo!"

Aster rolled his eyes, he had no idea how Tooth was able to work with this kid almost everyday without doing something drastic, like duct-taping his mouth shut.

"Real original, mate, never heard that one before," he responded against his better judgement, "shouldn't you be doing something? Tooth doesn't pay you to stand around chattin' to customers."

"There's this wonderful thing called multitasking, it means I can talk and clean at the same time." Jack called back merrily from where he was standing, cleaning the glass display case for the ice cream.

Aster snapped his sketchbook shut, just in case some of Jack's cleaning mysteriously lead him over to where he was seated. Jack was the type of person who liked peering over people's shoulders to see what they were working on and, frankly, Aster would probably die of embarrassment if Jack saw he'd been drawing his boss. There was no way the kid would keep information like that to himself.

"As therapeutic as I find the sound of your voice, is there a reason you're talking to me?"

"Uncle Nick is gonna be meeting up with Sandy at the workshop tonight, he wants to know if you're free to come down."

Of course North would get his nephew to check up on him instead of just calling him up himself.

"I've got commission deadlines coming up, don't think I'll be able to make it this week." He drained the last of his latte and nearly sputtered it back out when Jack casually dropped into the seat across from him.

Thank goodness he'd thought to close his sketchbook.

"Don't you have chores to do?!"

"I already did them all, and you're the only customer here so I've got nothing else to do."

Sometimes Aster was half convinced that Jack finished things at a break-neck speed just so he could bother everyone around him.

"Anyways, aren't all your commissions generally paintings?" Jack leaned forward, chin cradled by his hands and smirking like he knew all the secrets of the universe, the cheeky bastard. "I find it interesting that you don't have time to meet up with your friends but you will leave your studio for at least an hour everyday just to get a caffein fix, especially when you've got a bunch of freelance projects due at the same time."

Aster felt one of his eyebrows twitch.

"Artists need to take breaks so that when they come back they can look at their work with fresh eyes."

Jack opened his mouth to retort, but was interrupted by a party of six coming through the door and Tooth fluttering out from the back in order to seat them.

"This isn't over, kangaroo." He said before leaving and Aster huffed to himself.

The hell it wasn't.


	3. Chapter 3

"Honestly, I feel like we ought to lock them in a room together until they both just admit their feelings." Jack lamented later that night while sitting in his Uncle's workshop.

North laughed loudly and clapped his nephew on the back. "I understand your frustration Jack, but you need not interfere. If it is meant to be, it will happen, right Sandy?"

Sandy nodded along and Jack pouted.

"Uncle Nick, you're not the one who has to see these two interact everyday. Sometimes it gets so awkward it's painful, but they still don't do anything about it, and neither of them ever takes my advice." He crossed his arms petulantly. 

Sandy set down his drink and quickly signed at North who made vague noises of agreement.

"Well? What does Sandy think?"

"Sandy says that he has seen you give advice, and he is not surprised they don't take it."

"Hey, I give great advice!" He frowned at the blonde man who's hands once again moved in a quick succession of signs that Jack only half understood.

"Maybe for people your age, but Aster and Tooth are older. They approach relationships in a different way."

"If by different you mean at a glacial pace, I agree." Jack buried his face in his hands and groaned. "It's so awkward, like watching parents flirt with each other. I just want them to get it over with, I can't deal with another month of knowing that whenever Tooth disappears into her office she watches the security feeds and Aster hunches over his sketchbook like he thinks that will keep anyone from realizing he's drawing her." He slowly pulled his hands away from his face, a devious glint in his eyes that North was all too familiar with.

"Maybe I'll just borrow his sketchbook to show Tooth the drawings he's obviously been doing of her."

"You know that is bad idea Jack, to look through Aster's sketchbook would be terrible invasion of privacy. You would not look over one of my design plans or read through one of Sandy's manuscripts without permission, correct?"

Jack slumped in his seat. "I suppose not."

"Then you know better. Besides, you do not want to be on his bad side."

"I'm pretty sure I'm permanently on his bad side anyways, dude needs to chill out. Maybe he wouldn't be so high-strung if he had a lady friend."

"Jack."

"Yeah, yeah, I won't steal anyone's sketchbooks or tell anyone that my boss secretly watches them all the time. I'll just think of something else. Christmas is coming soon, maybe I'll put some mistletoe up in the store and shove them under it."

North and Sandy shared a look.

"Well, that is better idea than stealing sketchbook."

"Great," Jack slapped at his knees, "that settles that. I'm going to bed, catch you guys on the flip side."

North watched him walk out of the workshop and into their adjoining house fondly before leaning in close to Sandy. "You'd think that, being so concerned with other's love lives, he'd try having one of his own. Alas, I fear I will never be Great Uncle."

"I can still hear you Uncle Nick!" Jack called from inside the house.

"Ears like the devil, that boy." North murmured before taking a deep breath. "I love you and wish for you to never change!"

He turned back to Sandy, who'd been chuckling silently to himself during their exchange. "Now then, what were we discussing before Jack distracted us with matchmaking schemes?"


	4. Chapter 4

Tooth looked up from where she'd been wiping down tables when she heard someone step inside nearly half an hour before opening. Her eyebrows rose upon seeing Jack stroll in, carrying a large cardboard box.

"Jack, you're in a little earlier than usual. What's in the box?" She walked forward, as if propelled by curiosity.

"I borrowed some Christmas decorations from my Uncle Nick, I figured I'd come in early to set some of this stuff up."

"That's awfully sweet of you." Almost too sweet, Tooth tapped at her chin in contemplation.

"It's no problem, I love decorating for Christmas." Jack grinned widely, the very picture of innocence.

"Well, you know where the ladder and everything is, call me if you need any help."

"Sure thing, boss." He set the box down on a nearby table and checked his watch, he had at least twenty five minutes until Aster showed up, and as long as he put the mistletoe up last he doubted Tooth would notice.

He hung stockings in front of the drink counter, strung lights around windows and carefully suspended small bundles of ornaments from various light fixtures before finally, with five minutes to spare, he hung a sprig of mistletoe right over the doorway.

He chuckled softly as he put the ladder away and situated himself behind the drink counter. Now all he had to do was wait.

Right on schedule Aster stepped inside and Tooth gravitated towards him like they were a pair of opposing magnets. They greeted each other fondly and Jack loudly cleared his throat, earning one curious and one annoyed look. He pointed above their heads, unable to keep the smug smirk off of his face when they both craned their necks to look up and flushed.

"I know you guys know what that means, now kiss."

Aster's cheeks were slowly returning to their normal colour, but Tooth's kept getting redder.

"Jack, I can't just go around kissing customers! I expect you to take that mistletoe down right now." Tooth crossed her arms and tapped her foot impatiently while Aster began awkwardly shifting his weight.

Oh no, he had not gotten this close only to admit defeat now. "I swear, if you two don't do anything to resolve the palpable sexual tension that follows you around I will literally die of frustration and haunt you for the rest of your mortal lives."

Aster frowned and stepped forward. "Listen here, mate, you can't just-" He was cut off when Tooth pulled him down to her level and sealed her lips against his.

Jack barely resisted a victorious fist pump, he was so proud of himself.

Tooth pulled back quickly, lavender eyes scanning over a face that was quickly turning as red as her own. "I don't know about you, but I don't think I could deal with Jack following me around for the rest of my life."

Aster slowly broke out into a lopsided smile. "You're not the only one." He ducked back down for another kiss.

"Hey, anyone would be lucky to get haunted by me, I'm a very charming person." Jack protested and Aster flipped him the bird from behind Tooth's back.

"Rude. I'm gonna tell Uncle Nick you're being a bad influence on me." But he was smiling so hard his cheeks were beginning to hurt.

He was such a genius.


End file.
